Burt Hill Kosar Rittelmann Associates, Pittsburgh's largest architecture firm, has formed Burt Hill International, a wholly owned subsidiary registered in Dubai. The new company will offer architecture, engineering and design services in the Middle East.
"The Middle East, especially the United Arab Emirates (UAE), represents a tremendous growth market," said John Kosar, Burt Hill's chairman emeritus, who is chairman of the new entity. "The government of Dubai aims to triple its population by the year 2020 by attracting multinational companies and to be the Middle East's center of finance, trade, health care, education and tourism.”
“There are good opportunities to apply our architecture and engineering expertise on commercial, residential, healthcare and education projects," he added. The US Department of Commerce estimates that approximately $20 billion will be spent on construction in Dubai, a city with a population of 1.2 million, within the next five years.
"Most architecture firms enter a foreign market hoping to cherry pick mega-projects without making a commitment to the market," said Anton Germishuizen, managing principal of Burt Hill's Pittsburgh office.
"We are establishing a permanent presence in Dubai and have senior people willing to spend the time to develop the market. We will be in a position to compete for the steady stream of both large and smaller, but very attractive projects."
Burt Hill Kosar Rittelmann Associates is an architecture, design and engineering firm with offices in Pittsburgh, Butler and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Boston, Massachusetts; Washington, DC; and Cleveland, Ohio.
The firm's clients include multinational corporations, real estate developers, nonprofit institutions, healthcare providers, colleges and universities, technology and biotechnology companies, government institutions and individuals.
The firm provides services including architecture, engineering, interior design, landscape and research, with particular expertise in sustainable design, technology integration, energy management, and historic preservation. – (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
